Managing director Virapan Pulges said yesterday that the move was part of its Bt50-billion five-year investment plan for 2015-19 to step up the leadership of its business in Asean.

With Bt500 million for Ticon and Bt3 billion for Ticon Logistics Park Co or TPark, the remaining Bt500 million will be used for investment in Indonesia.

The second phase of its project in Indonesia is being developed with 51,000sqm of space for lease.

Ticon also sees the growth of industry in Vietnam, which is another country with long-term potential, he said.

Patan Somburanasin, managing director of TPark, said his company’s marketing strategy still focused on Greater Bangkok, especially Bang Phli in Samut Prakan and Wang Noi in Ayutthaya province, where it has 880 and 877 rai (141 and 140 hectares) of available land.

These two areas are ideal distribution hubs to serve the expansion of major industries such as consumer products, modern trade, e-commerce and logistics, he said.

The company’s construction innovation and value engineering continue to add value for customers, Patan said. It excels in the quality and proficiency of warehouse design to satisfy the numerous needs of customers, as manifested in its dangerous-goods warehouses, which are certified by the Industrial Works Department, and temperature-controlled warehouses.

Ticon Group considers itself the pioneer in Thailand in developing factories and warehouses to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) specifications that can reduce energy usage in a building for the least effect on the ecosystem. Ticon Group has 51 projects covering 2.36 million square metres of space under management. They include

Ticon ready-built factory projects with 1.12 million square metres of rental space and TPark ready-built and built-to-suit warehouses spanning 1.24 million square metres.

Ticon Group netted Bt770 million on revenue of Bt4.85 billion from rental factories and warehouses, asset sales to its real estate investment trust, and other sources last year.

The province, which borders Ho Chi Minh City to the north and is home to several industrial parks, lured US$463 million worth of foreign direct investment, accounting for 46 per cent of its 2016 target and a rise of 3.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

For the January-February period, 14 new projects were licensed with registered capital of $169 million, while 17 projects currently operating were allowed to increase capital by $299 million.

Taiwan (China) lead among countries and territories investing in the locality in the reviewed period, with four projects worth $125 million.

The new investment projects are diversified in many trading areas and meet with the locality’s investment attraction orientation, which includes five projects for suppliers for the mechanical and apparel industries.

According to the DIZA, one of the main reasons for the increasing FDI inflow is investors are taking the initiative to prepare for expected opportunities from free trade agreements, particularly the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

Many of the world’s largest companies from the Republic of Korea, Japan and China have invested in the province, including Fujitsu, Formosa, VPIC, Hyonsung, Changshin, and Taekwang. Thailand’s Amata also owns a large-sized industrial estate in the province.

Hiroyuki Suzuki, president of Toto (Thailand), said the Thai unit aimed to increase the proportion of domestic sales from less than 20 per cent of the total to 30 per cent by 2020.

Although currently running its sanitary-ware plant at full capacity, the company has no plan to increase its production capacity but will instead reducing its exports to make way for more local sales.

“It is Toto’s policy to have local production to serve the local market. Even when we meet the 30-per-cent [local sales] target, we will still not have to expand production capacity,” he said.

At present, Toto (Thailand) makes 60 per cent of its sales revenue from its exports to Japan, 15 per cent from the United States, and about 5 per cent from Europe.

Thanks to a Bt2-billion investment made prior to its takeover of the local operations from Siam Cement Group in October 2013, Toto has a sanitary-ware production capacity of 540,000 pieces per year.

“We have to see how the US and Japanese markets grow. And Toto Vietnam is constructing a new factory. Toto group has to consider Asia in the overall picture,” he said.

According to official documents on the Toto.com website, the Japanese company is building its third factory in Vietnam with a total investment of 9.7 billion yen (Bt3 billion). When completed in March 2018, the Hung Yen plant will have a capacity to produce 600,000 pieces of sanitary ware per year. The new Vietnamese market will also serve “other rapidly growing Asian countries”, according to Toto.

At present, Indonesia is Toto’s largest production base in Asia outside Japan, followed by Vietnam, whose capacity is already three times Thailand’s, Suzuki said.

He said Vietnam’s production costs were similar to Thailand’s but its wage costs were currently about half of the Kingdom’s. Nevertheless, Vietnam’s labour costs are rising by 20 per cent per year, and sanitary-ware shipments to the US from Vietnam will be subject to an import tax, while Thai products are not being taxed.

“Our sales in Vietnam are very good and thus we have to open the new factory,” he said, adding that Toto is now the No 1 player in Vietnam’s sanitary-ware market.

Suzuki said Toto’s separation from SCG was successful, since it is already making a profit and running its plant at full capacity. The company believes it has about 8 per cent of the medium-to-upper-end segment of the Thai sanitary-ware market, which accounts for about 30 per cent of the total market here.

Suzuki said Toto would seriously penetrate the Thai market this year and would launch a new product in April. It will also invest Bt20 million to renovate its Bangkok showroom to have a corner to display its state-of-the-art technologies.

“This year we will penetrate the market seriously, with a focus on enhancing our products’ appeal and to intensify our branding efforts. We’ve found some Thais who still think Toto is a bed sheet,” he said.

Toto aims to boost its sales in Thailand by 30 per cent this year, after growing by about 20-30 per cent in 2015.

“The parent company has high expectations for the Asian market. The top three markets that it has given the highest priorities are Thailand, Vietnam and India. That’s why we have to set a high target here,” he said.

Suzuki said that since an increasing number of Thais had been travelling to Japan every year, Toto believed many of them might have a chance to experience Toto products such as its signature washlets that are equipped with electronic toilet seats, and would love to use these products here too.

Toto recently won trust from |three high-end residential projects |- Saladaeng One, The Residence@Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, and NUSA Sriracha – to use its sanitary ware and other bathroom products in their projects.

The company aims to expand its Caltex-brand service stations with a focus on quality locations such as strategic highways and key provinces nationwide.

The company will also continue to expand its cooperation with retail partners to enhance offerings and services for motorists. At the same time, it will work to reinforce brand awareness and broaden its reach with the younger customer base.

Country chairman and general manager for products, Salman Saadat, said the company is committed to enhancing its presence in Thailand by working with current retailers and new investors to add new Caltex branded service stations in Bangkok and other provinces to cater to demand and growth of the market.

In 2015, Chevron opened 23 new Caltex fuel service stations. This year, the company said it would continue its effort to expand Caltex service stations from nearly 370 existing sites, focusing on key locations such as strategic highways and key provinces to better serve the motorists and transportation sectors. It is also working on enhancing its service-station experience to make it more enjoyable so that motorists can look forward to visiting a Caltex site.

Refurbished forecourts are brighter and more attractive, with canopy lights providing drivers with a safer welcome at night. So far, nearly 200 Caltex fuel service station networks have been reimaged. “The focus for 2016 is to provide motorists with a one-stop exceptional experience each time they visit our stations.

“We aim to cater to the demand of motorists with a wider range of services such as convenience stores, food courts, coffee shops and eateries, car washes, auto fast fit, ATM, etc. Moreover, the company plans to further expand its cooperation with retail partners such as D’Oro Cafe, Family Mart, Black Canyon, etc., not only to provide additional revenue source for our service station partners but also enhance Caltex’s appeal to the public. We will also work on developing new partnerships to create more valued and impressive experience for the motorists when visiting Caltex stations. We target two to three new popular branded retail partners to come on board by the end of 2016,” said Saadat.

Chevron Thailand Ltd is also tapping technology to reach out to a new generation of motorists.

He added that the company will tap “digital marketing” strategy through social network and online media in order to broaden our reach to cover new younger customer base.

Its “Caltex Thailand Facebook” has attracted more than 360,000 fan-page likes and its activities continue to gain overwhelming positive feedback from the visitors.

“We are proud that Caltex is ranked No 1 in the fuel service station category in “Thailand’s Most Social Power Brand 2015″ survey conducted by BrandAge Magazine,” he said.

Managing director Torn Pra-charktam told a press conference yesterday that for this year, the company had budgeted Bt500 million, of which Bt350 million would be used to expand production capacity for prescription lenses, which is a product that generates a good profit.

The remaining Bt150 million this year is for a 360-degree rebranding to support the company’s growth, which has been going at 10 per cent each year.

A total of Bt300 million will be spent next year and in 2018 to penetrate deeper in the US and Aseancountries, especially Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

About 95 per cent of sales go to the international market, mainly Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US and the Asia-Pacific region.

In the Asean market, the company aims to distribute its products through joint ventures in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam and isstudying and negotiating more for partnerships in Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar.

“The company is positive that this major reorganisation and the three years ahead will push the company to be the leader of world-class independent optical-lens manufacturers and to be accepted by consumers globally who extensively use quality optical lenses,” Torn said.

“We also target our revenue to grow by double digits annually.”

The group netted Bt230 million on sales of Bt1.82 billion last year, thanks partly to the continued growth of the global optical-lens market.

There are more than 1.8 billion optical-lens users and the trend is to increase by more than 3 per cent every year.

Thai Optical Group was founded in 1991.

Today, the company has authorised capital of Bt475 million.

Lars Norling, chief executive officer of DTAC, said yesterday that it would vigorously defend its turf.

According to DTAC’s recently filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, it expects competition to remain intense this year, especially for 4G service offerings.

It has set a capital-expenditure budget of Bt20 billion for this year, similar to last year’s level, to expand 4G networks on both the 1,800-megahertz and 2.1-gigahertz bands.

According to Advanced Info Service’s recent filing to the SET, it has budgeted Bt40 billion this year mainly for the 4G network roll-out and for 3G network enhancement.

Recently True Corp CEO Suphachai Chearavanont said True would spend Bt55 billion over three years on the expansion of its 4G service on the 1,800MHz, 2.1GHz and 900MHz spectra, and on the development of 2G service on 900MHz.

Expanding bandwidth

As part of the move to safeguard its market share, DTAC will increase 4G bandwidth on the 1,800MHz spectrum to 20MHz from 15MHz on 1,800MHz and the existing 5MHz on 2.1GHz.

It will also expand its 4G-1,800MHz coverage to 77 provinces by next quarter and 4G-2.1GHz coverage to all 878 districts nationwide by the third quarter.

It has recently introduced heavy call and data and smartphone |packages and has also launched a campaign to encourage its nearly 3 million 2G subscribers to upgrade their phones to 4G/3G smartphones.

DTAC has 25.3 million subscribers, of whom 2.3 million are on 4G. It is adding 200,000 4G subscribers a month with the goal of reaching a total of 4.5 million by year-end.

New brand platform

DTAC is also planning to unveil a new brand platform to solidify its image and market positioning.

AIS is in talks with DTAC about allowing AIS’s 2G subscribers to roam on DTAC’s network. However, no deal has been signed with AIS yet, Norling said.

AIS and True secured 1,800MHz licences in the November auction, while True and Jasmine International grabbed 900MHz licences in the December auction.

Slumping global commodity prices since 2014 and the falling value of the euro have made their prey even cheaper.

Here are the 10 biggest overseas acquisitions by Chinese companies by value, with debt excluded, according to figures from international financial data provider Dealogic:

$43 billion: State-owned China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) offers to buy Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta on Wednesday

$15.2 billion: Chinese oil behemoth CNOOC acquires Canada’s energy company Nexen in a deal completed in 2013

$14.3 billion: State-owned aluminium firm Chinalco buys a minority shareholding in Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto in 2008

$8.8 billion: State-run investment firm China Cinda Asset Management announces in December it would take over Hong Kong’s Nanyang Commercial Bank

$7.9 billion: ChemChina acquires Italian tyremaker Pirelli last year

$7.3 billion: Refiner Sinopec buys Swiss oil exploration company Addax Petroleum in 2009

$7.1 billion: Sinopec purchases 40 per cent of Spanish energy giant Repsol’s Brazilian operations in 2010

$7.0 billion: A Chinese consortium led by state-owned mining giant China Minmetals Corp buys Glencore Xstrata’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru in 2014

$5.6 billion: China sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp purchases 9.9 per cent of US investment bank Morgan Stanley in 2007

$5.5 billion: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s biggest lender, acquires a 20 per cent stake in South Africa’s Standard Bank in 2007

– AFP

The company will also spend Bt600 million in Thailand this year to open five new cinemas in The Crystal Ekkamai-Ramindra, Big C Bang Phli, CentralPlaza Nakhon Si Thammarat, Terminal 21 Nakhon Ratchasima and Robinson Lifestyle Centre Lop Buri.

Chief executive officer Suwat Thongrompo said yesterday the company has identified great “blue ocean” opportunities for the cinema and other entertainment businesses in the rapidly emerging economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which are known as the CLMV countries.

The economies require significant players and time to be developed, Suwat said.

“Our key success criteria and concerns are to acquire the right prime locations and find the right partners, particularly in the CLMV countries.

“Our cineplexes will range widely in size from three to four screens up to eight to 10 screens depending on the location. Average investment per screen will be Bt15 million,” he said.

“We have been proposed [to] by potential investors in all CLMV countries to open theatres in their own market,” he said.

Sivit Thongrompo, chief operating officer, said some negotiations with potential partners were more than 50 per cent finalised.

Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam would be the priorities, he said, adding that Laos’s cinema market will take time to be developed and ready for foreign investors.

“Regarding the different regulations applied in those markets, we can better utilise space for our cinemas. That means we can open more screens at certain locations with the same space as Thailand,” Sivit said.

In Thailand, SF runs theatres at 47 locations in Bangkok and 22 in the provinces with 316 screens and 70,000 seats. The 47th cineplex opens today at The Crystal Ekkamai-Ramindra with eight screens and 1,450 seats. It cost Bt200 million to open, which the company plans to recoup within five to seven years based on projections it will cater to about 600,000 moviegoers per year.

SF Corporation earned Bt300 million on Bt4 billion in revenue last year. Revenue was up 10 per cent over 2014.

This year, its aims to achieve Bt5 billion in total revenue and Bt380 million in profit, a 20-per-cent increase from last year.

About 65 per cent of revenue will come from ticket sales and the rest from concessions and other sources.

“We expect to see a strong line-up of Hollywood blockbusters this year, especially superhero and franchised films,” he said.

The firm is preparing to list on the local stock exchange to raise funds for future expansion and build an international image, but is waiting for market and investor sentiment to improve.

AIS chief executive officer Somchai Lertsutiwong announced yesterday that the company would initially spend Bt20 billion this year on the installation of its 4G network at 7,000 sites in 42 provinces.

A company source said AIS was currently awaiting board approval to spend an additional Bt20 billion on the 4G network in the middle of this year, which would give it a total of 14,000 sites in 72 provinces.

Somchai said the Bt20 billion earmarked to be spent on expanding the 3G network would result in the company covering 27,000 3G sites nationwide.

Also this week, True Corp CEO Suphachai Chearavanont said True would spend Bt55 billion over three years on the expansion of its 4G service on the 1,800MHz, 2.1GHz and 900MHz spectra, and on the development of 2G service on 900MHz.

AIS, meanwhile, is hopeful of signing a partnership deal with TOT during the current quarter to provide 3G service jointly on the state agency’s 2.1GHz spectrum, Somchai said.

AIS subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) currently offers 3G service on 2.1GHz under the National Broadcasting and Telecommunica-tions Commission (NBTC) licensing regime.

It won an 1,800MHz licence in the auction held by the regulator in November.

Somchai said AWN’s present spectrum portfolio was enough to provide a quality service to customers.

AIS has a total of 38 million mobile subscribers, of which 20 million are active users of mobile data service. Of the 20 million, more than 10 million are expected to use 4G service this year.

AWN announced the official launch of 4G services from yesterday under the name AIS 4G Advanced, with a service area starting with 42 provinces covering each of the country’s regions, plus full-speed packages and a wide range of 4G service centres. The company targets full coverage in every province by May.

After winning a 1,800MHz licence in November, the company has been conducting early trials since last month.

“After we were awarded an 1,800MHz licence from the NBTC on November 25, we went full throttle in accelerating our network expansion along with the development of the fastest services in every aspect, via a Bt14.52-billion budget.

“Then we started inviting certain customers to get the first touches on their 4G experience in December,” Somchai said.

AIS and True Corp each won a 1,800MHz licence in the November auction, while True and Jasmine International each secured a 900MHz licence in the ensuing NBTC auction last month.

Total Access Communication (DTAC) has already launched 4G on 1,800MHz, under a CAT Telecom concession.

As AIS failed to win a 900MHz licence, it is rushing to migrate its 12 million 2G customers on 900MHz to AWN by offering them subsidised handsets.

It has already migrated a million of these users to AWN.

The 900MHz spectrum previously belonged to AIS under a TOT concession. After its concession ended last September, the NBTC put the spectrum up for auction.

Somchai declined to comment when asked whether AIS was in talks with Jasmine International to allow its 2G customers to roam with the latter’s 900MHz service. He said AIS had paid a combined concession fee of Bt180 billion to TOT during its operation under the state agency’s concession over the past 25 years.

Pratthana Leelapanang, executive vice president for marketing at AIS, yesterday said the company had taken this opportunity to launch the largest full-scale mobile entertainment application centre – AIS Play – from which subscribers could access 100 TV channels for live and recorded viewing, movies from a number of famous Thai and foreign producers, series from Hollywood, sports, cartoons and karaoke, among other offerings.